It is with a heavy heart that we share that Disney Legend Glynis Johns has passed away at the age of 100. Best known for her role as Mrs. Winifred Banks in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964), Glynis Johns’ other career highlights included an Oscar-nominated performance in The Sundowners (1960) and her Tony-winning performance as Desiree Armfeldt in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, in which she was the original performer of the hit song “Send In The Clowns,” which was written specifically for her.
(Disney)
When Disney cast Glynis Johns in the role of Mrs. Banks, the part hadn’t been written as a singing role. As a direct result of her casting, the Sherman Brothers were tasked with giving her a song, which became “Sister Suffragette.” Glynis Johns was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1998, with other Disney credits that include The Sword and the Rose (1953), Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953), plus Touchstone Pictures’ The Ref (1994) and While You Were Sleeping (1994).
Born on October 5th, 1923, LA’s ABC7 covered the actress’ centennial birthday with a beautiful retrospective and interview.
The daughter of Welsh actor Mervyn Johns and Australian musician Elizabeth Steele-Payne, Glynis Johns was literally born into theater while her parents were on tour (her birthplace was Pretoria, South Africa). Her official stage debut came when Glynis was three months old, although her first professional speaking role would have to wait until she was eight. She acted in over 30 plays throughout her eight-decade career, although her earliest passion was dance. She was so well-trained that she was a certified ballet teacher by age eleven. Among her early stage roles was a part in J. M. Barrie's A Kiss for Cinderella (1937), Barrie being the author of Peter Pan.
Glynis’ film career began in 1938, working primarily in the United Kingdom where one of her earliest screen stars was David Tomlinson, who would later play her husband in Mary Poppins. It was during this era that she was cast in her first two Disney films, the studio’s earliest all live-action productions that had to be made internationally to use up wartime profits. Shortly after, she made her Broadway debut before transitioning into American films, including George Cukor’s The Chapman Report (1962). When Walt Disney approached Johns for a part in Mary Poppins, she was initially under the impression that she was being offered the title role.
Television was also part of John’s repertoire, even headlining a short-lived mystery series appropriately titled Glynis. In the show, Johns played a detective and novelist, so it’s fitting that she guest starred on a 1985 episode of Murder She Wrote, which had a similar premise. Other notable TV roles include Diane’s mother on Cheers and the villainous Lady Penelope Peasoup on Batman.
Glynis Johns retired from acting at the end of the 1990s. Her final screen role was as the grandmother of Molly Shannon's Mary Catherine Gallagher in Superstar, inspired by the Saturday Night Live sketches. Glynis Johns is preceded in death by her son, actor Gareth Forwood, and is survived by her grandson, Thomas Forwood.
Our hearts go out to Glynis Johns’ family, friends, and fans during this difficult time.